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Shires of Scotland. The Shires of Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachdan na h-Alba; Scots: Scots coonties), [a] or Counties of Scotland, were historic subdivisions of Scotland. The shires were originally established in the Middle Ages for judicial purposes, being territories over which a sheriff had jurisdiction.
The council areas have been in existence since 1 April 1996, under the provisions of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. Historically, Scotland was divided into 34 counties or shires. Although these no longer have any administrative function, they are still used to some extent in Scotland for cultural and geographical purposes, and ...
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Sheriffdoms or shires
Malcolm III (reigned 1058 to 1093) appears to have introduced sheriffs as part of a policy of replacing previous forms of government with Norman feudalstructures. This policy was continued by Edgar (reigned 1097 to 1107), Alexander I (reigned 1107 to 1124), and in particular David I (reigned 1124 to 1153). David completed the division of the country into sheriffdoms by the conversion of existing thanedoms. The earliest sheriffdom south of the Forth which we know of for certain is Haddingtonsh...
Shires extant by 1305
In 1305 Edward I of England, who had deposed John Balliolissued an Ordinance for the Government of Scotland. The document listed the twenty-three shires then existing and either appointed new sheriffs or continued heritable sheriffs in office. : Gospatric was mentioned as sheriff in a number of charters of Earl David. The shire was not listed in the ordinance, and in 1305 appears to have been partly under the jurisdiction of the Sheriff of Selkirk, with the remainder comprised in the constabu...
Shires formed after 1305
The remaining shires were formed either by the territorial expansion of the Kingdom of Scotland, or by the subdivision of existing sheriffdoms. Many of the new shires had highly irregular boundaries or detached parts as they united the various possessions of the heritable sheriffs. 1. c.1326: Argyll (or Argyle): lordship subdued by Alexander IIin 1222. Norwegian claims over the area finally ended in 1266. First record of appointment of sheriff dates from 1326. 2. 1369: Kirkcudbrightformed whe...
Names
In official documents shires were referred to as the Shire of X, rather than X Shire. The latter was more common in general usage. Thus in parliamentary proceedings one may find, for example, a heading referring to "Act for the shirrefdome of Dumbartane" but the text "the sevine kirkis to Dumbartane schyr" The first accurate county maps of Scotland appear in the late seventeenth century and contain a first-hand record of shire names. John Adair (maps c. 1682) gives the names of Midlothian, Ea...
It may be noted that the map depicts a large number of exclaves physically detached from the county that they were politically deemed to be part of. Cromartyshire's borders, a particularly fragmentary example, were achieved as late as 1685, although at that time the word "county" was not applied to the sheriffdom.
Shires of Scotland by population (2011)Shires of Scotland by population density (people per hectare) in 2011The county buildings in Paisley, formerly the seat of Renfrew County CouncilIn Scotland, from the middle age until the early 1970s, there were local government units called counties or shire. But now the counties have left their place to the council areas. Counties of Scotland Map Counties of Scotland. Below you can find the county list used from 1890 until 1975: Counties of Scotland 1890-1975 Caithness. Castle in ...
Shires formed after 1305. The remaining shires were formed either by the territorial expansion of the Kingdom of Scotland, or by the subdivision of existing sheriffdoms.. There were occasional changes to the shires; those of the Lowlands were relatively stable from the 14th century, but there were more pronounced changes to the shires of the Highlands and Islands into the 17th century, as the ...
Aug 30, 2018 · Scotland was divided into geographic subdivisions (called counties or shires) during the Middle Ages. Originally, these counties were established for juridical purposes but beginning in the 17th century, they started to be used for local administration purposes.[1] These boundaries remained in use for local government until 1974, after which they were substantially reformed into ...
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The Shires of Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachdan na h-Alba; Scots: Scots coonties), [lower-alpha 1] or Counties of Scotland, were historic subdivisions of Scotland. Quick Facts Historic Shires, History ...